Devices for practicing religious and healing rituals are still in early development. The AltarNation is an example of such developments, which presents an altar-like interface which enables remote individuals to participate in group meditation. By lighting candles, users enter a shared virtual community. The interface is suitable for Christian rituals since only a simple kneeling gesture is recommended by the religion—although it does not provide the user with scripture reading facility.
Another currently-available interface is the Sajjadah1426 prayer rug, which employs the use of electroluminescent technology. The entire rug glows more brightly as it is turned towards Mecca. However, turning the whole prayer rug into a display could affect the concentration of the user, and the heat generated by the luminescent components could render the system unusable until it is cooled down. Furthermore, the adopted fading visualization component of the Sajjadah1426 prayer rug does not map well to a direction finding task.
The present invention provides various improvements to the devices and methods that are currently available for practicing such religious and healing rituals, which are discussed further below.